Nearly all Metra lines impacted by Positive Train Control issues

A widespread issue with Positive Train Control impacted nearly every Metra rail line on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Metra’s website, PTC issues temporarily halted all inbound and outbound trains out of Ogilvie Transportation Center on the Union Pacific Northwest, Union Pacific North and Union Pacific West lines on Tuesday evening.

Those trains are now on the move, albeit with significant delays.

Elsewhere, trains on the North Central line were operating 35-to-45 minutes behind schedule due to PTC issues.

Extensive delays were expected on the Metra Electric, Southwest Service, Milwaukee District West, Milwaukee District North, Heritage Corridor, and Rock Island lines.

A 5:10 p.m. Metra Electric train from Millennium Station was canceled, as was an inbound train on the Southwest Service line, officials said.

Trains are unable to depart Union Station on the Milwaukee District West, Milwaukee District North and Heritage Corridor lines because of the PTC issues, officials said.

According to a Metra spokesperson, an outage left the agency unable to initialize its PTC system, and according to federal regulations, service could continue without that system active.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, PTC systems are “designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones, and movements of trains through switches left in the wrong position.”

The system covers nearly 58,000 route miles of freight and passenger railroads, and impacts all commuter rail services and Amtrak, according to the DOT.

We will update this story with more details as they become available.